W.Va. Mine Disaster

[Anita18]

It's such a fine line.....it's easier for Blankenship to keep taking fine after fine than to close down an entire mine to fix it up. People will be out of work, those who work the mine and those who's work is outside of it but directly connected. There are just as many welders who make boxes and machinery for the mines as miners themselves who would be affected by something like that. But you are right...when people's lives are at stake, you can't just close you eyes and claim it's the economy of the state you are thinking of by staying open, and not your own bottom line. It's just that there are *so* many other companies who are connected to the mines. No one wants to be out of work.

I know it's a business and that in mining, lost time is lost money. But really, it's not the workers' fault if the company doesn't hire enough safety people to look after these things.

But I hope Massey Energy, if it's a publicly traded company, has their stock go through the basement for this, and not recover for years. It would serve them right. It's all about the bottom line, isn't it? They ought to burn publicly for something like this.

 

[Soapy]

Oh, their stock has been falling like a rock since this happened.

 

[TinkTonks]

I know it's a business and that in mining, lost time is lost money. But really, it's not the workers' fault if the company doesn't hire enough safety people to look after these things.

I have an uncle that worked in the mines (actually, he still does). He used to tell us about how he was in charge of taking readings of the gasses inside the mines. And the workers themselves used to razz him about it. Give him a hard time. Cause if he found it to be of such a level that they would have to halt production, they would get mad at him for making them lose money. And in this recent case, the mine had been inspected just 4 hours before the explosion. It's not so much that there aren't enough people to look after the safety, it seems to me more a case of too many people wanting/or willing to overlook it for the bottom line.

It's just sad that people are forced into that situation around here. To my uncle and many other miners I know, their biggest fear is losing money, not their lives. They care so much for their families and want to take care of them....and around here that usually means taking a mining job

 

[Soapy]

Sad news. :[

The four missing miners were found dead. That brings the total to 29. Which makes this the worst mine disaster since 1970.

Hopefully some good can come out of this in the form of harsher penalties to those that ignore the safety issues that threaten the lives of their workers.

 

[Majic Walrus]

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2010/04/obama-will-go-to-wva-to-eulogi.html?wprss=44

http://www.register-herald.com/todaysfrontpage/x993505996/Obama-Biden-to-attend-miner-memorial

If any of you West Virginia natives are going here's some information about it. I'm hoping to be able to attend.